Thoughts, dreams and adventures of an empty nester who has retired and left the Big Apple for a home in the suburbs.

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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Memories

This year my son celebrated a milestone birthday. Besides going out to Seattle to celebrate with him, I decided I really needed to find a very special present.

After much thought, I decided to make a video which I called, "This is Your Life". I had been scanning our old family pictures for a while so I went through them and selected some very old pictures of his grandparents, childhood and young adult pictures of my husband and me, and, of course baby, school and adult pictures of him.

I used Windows Live Movie Maker and assembled the pictures. Because I'm so impulsive when I get a good idea, I never took the time to correct some of the snapshots or clean up the very old pictures.

I decided to add music and initially chose Mantovani's "Long Ago andFar Away", then decided to add Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are". Unfortunately, Mantovani didn't want to go away so I had both songs playing simultaneously. Not a good mix. Back to the drawing board. I finally chose "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair" which I had never heard of but was in the music library on my laptop.

I forgot to mention that in the middle of the project, my computer crashed. Fortunately, my work was backed up by Carbonite, a true lifesaver. When I tried to save the work on a CD, I got a message that the CD was not valid. I had no choice, I had to ask for help from my son. I lied that I was doing something for his cousins. Eventually I got it saved and onto a DVD, or so I thought.

I gave him the DVD for his birthday, but was very disappointed the next day when he told me that he couldn't see it. Now, I could be honest with him and get the help I needed.

With his guidance I was able to burn a new DVD when I got home, then sent it out to him. He received it last week and enjoyed it.

In spite of the problems I had creating this video, I'm so glad I did it. I really surprised myself and my reaction. Sometimes, I just sit back, watch and take a trip down memory lane. I was very lucky, he was a very good baby, a good student and is a wonderful son. Those were the days my friend, such happy days. Sometimes I wish I could go back and do it all over again.

About Me

After living the greater part of my life in Queens in NYC, I decided to try country life. I bought the "money pit", then decided to retire to a 55+ community in New Jersey. I'm learning so many things about myself and trying so many new things. I always said I was a late bloomer. But I will always be a New Yorker and proud of it.